Forest Green
by Adicea
Summary: After escaping from abusive parents, Haruka has nowhere to go but the wild. After six years, a painter named Michiru stumbles into her territory with a wounded leg. Haruka decides to go back to civilization with her, realizing she must face her parents.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Prey.

The female perked her ears at the sound, feet making no noise as she swiftly ran through the trees toward the noise. She licked her lips; finally, after weeks of living off of small squirrels, large prey. The footsteps sounded heavy, an indication this prey was about the size of a human being. By the sounds, it was limping, too; she could catch up to it in an instant.

She was, after all, the wind.

Reaching the sounds, she waited, scaling a nearby tree and glancing down at her prey. Giving a small squeak of surprise, she watched as the prey turned around, startled at the sudden noise.

It was a small human woman, with aquamarine hair and clear, piercing blue eyes. She looked out-of-place in this uncivilized area, looking like she would be the kind to go to fancy balls and such.

The female thought she had never seen a more beautiful creature.

As she ogled the woman, a large squirrel landed on her head, causing her to lose her balance and topple out of the tree. She landed right in front of the woman, who jumped back.

"W-who are you…?" she asked.

"I am Ten'ou," Ten'ou said, preferring not to disclose her full name in case the woman turned her over to the police. She had run away from her home six years ago to leave her abusive parents, and had gone to the wild because she thought no one would look there. She had learned to survive quickly, which was needed; the animals were vicious.

"Ten'ou? Is that it?" the woman asked.

Ten'ou snorted.

The woman seemed flustered. "I'm Kaiou Michiru. A pleasure to meet you, Ten'ou." Shakily, she bowed to Ten'ou.

Eyes going to Michiru's injury on her leg, Ten'ou asked, "Do you want any help with your leg? I know lots of herbs around here."

"This?" Michiru indicated the bandage-wrapped bloody leg. "Yes, please. It's been killing me all day…" she mumbled.

Ten'ou nodded. Grabbing her knife from its sheath, she casually strolled over to a nearby plant and cut off three leaves, sticking them in her mouth and chewing them. Once she had gotten them to a mushy pulp, she spit it out on her hand, noting the fact that Michiru's eyes had widened in surprise.

"This will draw out both pus and infection. It is rather useful," she explained as Michiru unwrapped the bandages on her leg. A large cut, likely animal-made, ran down Michiru's thigh, swollen and crusted with blood. Ten'ou spread the mush onto the cut, pressing down to make sure the leaf pulp hit every part of the cut. After a few seconds, pus ran down the side of her leg, draining into the ground.

After a few minutes of watching the pus, Michiru asked, "Why are you here?"

"I don't like society."

"Why?"

"It is none of your business," Ten'ou snapped. Michiru appeared hurt for the tiniest second, and went back to her indifferent expression, taking bandages out of her pack and giving them to Ten'ou. "Why is a person like you here?"

"I'm looking for things to photograph so I can paint them." Ten'ou wrapped the leg back up.

"Lovely. A painter walking in the middle of the woods, alone, with no one to protect her. Look. If you want, I can lead you out of these woods."

"That would be nice, Ten'ou. Thank you for offering."

* * *

"Ten'ou?" Michiru asked once the sun had gone down.

"Yes, Michiru?"

"I'm cold."

Ten'ou sighed. "I do not have anything warm, besides my body heat."

"Can I snuggle up next to you then?"

"I guess."

Michiru nodded happily, crawling close to wrap her arms around Ten'ou. After a few seconds, she murmured, "You're a woman?"

Ten'ou could already feel her eyes growing heavy.

"Yes, Michiru. I'm a woman."

Michiru made a noise of agreement, curling closer to Ten'ou. They fell asleep that way, wrapped in embrace.

* * *

"Ten'ou? Wake up, Ten'ou."

"No, Mama… I don't wanna wear a dress to that stupid ball…"

Michiru's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and she decided to listen on.

"But Mama, you always say that. 'Haruka, do this. Haruka, do that. Haruka, I want you to do that because you're a young lady. Think of what the boys will say!' Mom, I don't want to think of what the boys will say. Can't I wear a tux…?"

_Her name is Haruka…_

It was at this point that Haruka groaned, lazily opening one eye. "Wha…? You're not my mama…"

The events of the past six years came back to her, jolting her awake. "Oh. Michiru. You did not hear anything, did you?" Haruka snapped.

"No, why?" Michiru lied smoothly. Haruka grunted.

"Just curious."

Getting up, she drank a gulp of water from Michiru's canteen. Motioning for Michiru to grab her pack, she stood up, clambering up a tree to the top and looking for the edge of the forest.

"I would say a day from here if we take as few breaks as possible," she called down. Climbing down, Haruka noticed Michiru staring at her.

"What?"

"Oh, I'm just wondering what direction it's in," Michiru muttered to attempt to cover up the fact that she had been transfixed by Haruka.

"It is that way."

"A-alright. Shall we go?"

Haruka nodded.

_She's so beautiful, _Michiru thought.

Unbeknownst to her, Haruka was thinking the same thing.

* * *

"So Michiru, what is your life like?"

"I'm a famous painter and violinist. I have quite a lot of money, but I'd prefer to be out exploring instead of living a cushy, lazy life."

Haruka had to agree with this.

"Why are you living in the wild, Ten'ou?" Michiru asked.

"I got fed up with my life in society and left. I am twenty-three now, so I am allowed to live where I want. And I chose here."

"What made you leave?"

"I—I do not want to speak of it."

"Please?" Michiru could feel Haruka's resolve weakening.

"…Okay. I guess.

"My name is Ten'ou Haruka, and I am the heiress to a large company called Wind Cars, Inc. It's the company that makes nearly all of the cars in Japan, including the ones used in the Formula One races. If I had not run away, I would be a multimillionaire. But… I…"

"What is it, Haruka?"

"My parents abused me for not acting as they wanted me to. Every time I disobeyed them, even for not taking the dog out or something, they would hit me until I passed out. They were drunk most of the time, of course. But it still made me run away on my seventeenth birthday. I hated them."

"Haruka, that's horrible!"

"I know. The last time I heard my mother say she loved me was when I was six."

"Well, since you're twenty-three and all, they won't be able to touch you if you come back."

"I… I guess."

"You could come back with me."

Haruka looked up, suddenly interested. "Really?"

"Yeah."

Haruka began to mull it over until she noticed they had arrived at the edge a few hours later.

"Guess we walked faster than I thought we would. I guess this is goodbye."

"You're not coming?" Michiru asked sharply, distressed.

"I do not really know if I want to face my parents."

"Oh. Are you sure?"

"I guess I will come with you, just to see how it will be. But if I do not like it, I will just go and live in the woods."

"Okay… if you say so, Haruka. Come on, I see an airport nearby."

* * *

"Are you Miss Kaiou Michiru?" an employee asked as soon as Michiru and Haruka had gone to the reception desk. Haruka had stayed silent since they had gone into the airport, looking around warily.

"Yes. And this here is my friend, Haruka."

The employee looked closely at Haruka, eyes searching hungrily. "Have we met before? You look rather familiar."

Haruka blinked. "No, I do not think we have met before. I would recognize your unique features had I met you before."

She was lying about his 'unique features.' The man, she thought, wouldn't stand out in a crowd.

"A-alright," he stuttered, looking at her glare. "You're on Flight 739 at 21:00, over at Gate 3. Have a nice day, sir."

They both walked away from the receptionist, Haruka silent from surprise. Finally, she willed herself to speak. "He thought I was a man," she stated. Michiru nodded.

"Yes, I'm not surprised. Why is your hair so short, anyway? Do you need it like that for something?" she asked.

"Yeah. It would have gotten in my way if I had it long. Short is so much more convenient."

"Ah," Michiru acknowledged, turning away to walk to a nearby fast food restaurant. When she came back a few minutes later, she held a paper bag with two wrapped packages inside it. She handed one to Haruka, who tentatively unwrapped hers.

"What is this?" she asked, pointing to the hamburger.

"It's a burger, Haruka. It's made of beef. You know, cows?"

"You mean this tiny thing is edible?"

"Yeah," Michiru answered, biting into hers. Haruka glared scornfully down at the burger and decided to tempt fate, biting down into the bread and meat.

After chewing for a few moments, she announced, "I can not taste a thing."

Michiru handed a small red bottle to her. "Put that stuff on the burger and try it again."

Haruka did so, once again biting down into the burger. "Hey, this is alright. What is the red stuff?"

"It's called ketchup, Haruka."

The rest of Haruka's meal consisted entirely of ketchup. The burger was left with two small bites in it.

* * *

Author's Notes: It's been a while since I last published a story... I think I've improved at least a bit since then. But this is my first story about Haruka and Michiru that I actually intend to keep writing.

In case you're wondering, I purposely had Haruka say as little conjunction words as possible. In my mind, she probably forgot some of the nuances of language while living wild for six years. But you can fill that in yourself, if you would like.

Oh, and... Happy Birthday, Haruka-sama!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_Soft… what kind of tree am I in? _Haruka wondered, snuggling closer to the warmth of what seemed to be a pillow of some sort. She figured she must have found some leaves last night, making a pillow out of them. She also noted that something heavy and warm was located from her torso down, reflecting body heat back onto her, making it nice and toasty.

Absent-mindedly, she wondered where she had found the pillow and blanket. And what kind of tree it was made of.

A sharp prodding came in her side.

Grumpily, Haruka swatted it away, figuring it was a squirrel mistaking her for a giant acorn of some sort. Her clothes _had _gotten quite dirty as of late, but she had neglected to wash the dirt off, as it would serve as camouflage for her when she needed to hunt down prey.

She heard her name being called rather awkwardly, Haruka noted. Wondering who it was, she cracked open an eye.

Deep blue eyes stared into hers from above her head; aquamarine waves falling in tresses, nearly into Haruka's face.

"A-ano… could you please get off?" Michiru asked.

Haruka looked at her pillow, and realized her pillow was one of Michiru's breasts.

"Gomen n-nasai!" Haruka stuttered with a slight blush as her body shot up. "Gomen…" she repeated.

"It's, um, okay," Michiru replied.

Silence reigned for a few minutes.

Deciding to change the subject, Haruka asked, "How many more hours until we land?"

"The pilot came on about five minutes ago and said we're going to land in the next ten minutes."

"Oh. Lovely," Haruka said, an oddly bad feeling coming into her stomach. She winced as her stomach pulled upward slightly, wanting to stay in the air. "Did we just land? Because my stomach felt nearly the same way when we took off."

"Yes, I think we just landed."

They clambered out of the plane quickly, deciding they were hungry after flight.

"Do they have any of that stuff… uh, ketchup?" Haruka asked.

Michiru rolled her eyes. "Try this one. This is called mustard," she said as she handed a yellow bottle to Haruka, who had spotted a red bottle and was currently shoving its contents down her throat.

Haruka took the mustard, wincing as she did so. "What was that? That wasn't ketchup."

Michiru looked at the bottle. "I think you just ate the whole bottle of hot sauce."

Haruka winced again, this time at the burning of her throat. "It would go a lot better with some deer. Preferably nice and bloody."

"That's nice, Haruka," Michiru said as she got up to order some food. "Want to try some chicken this time?"

"Chicken? What's that?"

Michiru sighed. "Were your parents vegetarians?"

Haruka shrugged. "What's a vegetarian?"

* * *

"It's true, sir. I saw her with my own eyes."

Glass was shattered, shards spreading across the otherwise pristine oak desk. A man sat in a chair behind it, eyes unreadable as he stared at the man across from the desk, nervously staring at him. "Really?" the man behind the desk asked. Trembling, the other man nodded. "Alright, then. Call Isaac in."

The nervous man left, leaving the man behind the desk to sit and sigh and mull over possibilities. Back? Damn it… was she really back? He had no time to wonder about what to think about next when an American man entered.

He had sepia eyes that seemed to look right through you, brown hair brushing into it. He had a messy cut, the back of it extending to the end of his neck. As the man behind the desk glanced over him, the American asked, "You called for me, sir?" in slightly accented Japanese.

"Yes, Isaac. Please, have a seat."

Isaac nodded, sitting down in a plush maroon chair.

"I take it you have already heard that she has been spotted?"

Isaac nodded, and the two began to negotiate a plan.

* * *

Michiru decided that she liked Haruka better when she was clean.

After showing her how to use the overly-complicated bathtub in her house, Haruka had hogged the bathroom for a little over an hour. Michiru had gone shopping and had arrived when Haruka had stepped out; thankfully having the grand idea to put a towel on before she came out. Michiru's eyes had gone immediately to Haruka's head, widening slightly as she noted that Haruka's hair was a pale blonde. So pale, in fact, that it looked almost white. Michiru wondered how she could have hidden that whitish color under all of that dirt that she had had originally when Michiru met her. It had looked dark _brown_, which seemed not to be an easy feat.

"Are you getting old already? You're only twenty-three and your hair is white, Haruka," she said with a playful tone. Haruka glanced her way, smirking.

"You think my hair looks white? You should see my dad's. Blinding, I tell you," she replied. She looked around. "Hey, do you have any clothes I could fit into?"

Michiru held up a shopping bag. "I had to guess your measurements, but I think I got them right. Sorry if they don't fit."

Haruka nodded, taking the shopping bag into another room. There was a moment of silence, and Haruka asked from the other room, "Why is there a dress in here?"

"Just in case. It's mostly pants and shirts."

"Ah. Ano… okay."

Sounds of fabric came from the other room, and Haruka stepped out in a white button-up and black pants. Scratching at the back, she mumbled, "This is itchy. Why is it so itchy?"

Michiru walked around to Haruka's back and looked. "You forgot to pull the tags off."

"Oh. Can you pull them off for me?"

Michiru made a noise of assent and proceeded to take a pair of scissors and grab the plastic wire, cutting it off. Haruka visibly sighed as she removed it. "That's better. Thanks, Michiru."

"Sure," Michiru replied. As Haruka began to walk around in her clothes to test them out, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," said Haruka. Running to the door, she unlocked it as Michiru had showed her, opening it.

A young woman with her blonde hair in odangos stood there, looking up at Haruka with pale blue eyes. A man with jet black hair who looked to be a few years older than her stood behind her, ice blue eyes boring into Haruka curiously.

"Hi! I'm Chiba Usagi. Is Michiru here?" she asked. Haruka nodded.

"Hai. Let me get her, Ms. Chiba," Haruka replied, turning to the inside of the house. "Michiru? Someone named Chiba Usagi wants you!" she called. It was silent for a few moments, and then Haruka could hear Michiru running to the door.

"Usagi! You mean you got married after I left and didn't tell me?" Michiru asked excitedly. Usagi nodded.

"Hai, Michiru! There was cake! Lots and lots of cake! And is that a boyfriend?" she asked, referring to Haruka.

Michiru shook her head. "Haruka? She's someone I found while on my trip. I invited her to live with me for a while."

Usagi looked mortified. "She? Haruka is a girl?"

Michiru nodded. "Don't worry about it. I've seen a few people mistake her for a boy."

Haruka chuckled, watching the two talk. Mr. Chiba, or whoever he was—stood next to her, smiling at Usagi. "She's wonderful, isn't she?" he asked. "I'm Chiba Mamoru, by the way."

Haruka bowed. "Nice to meet you. I'm Ten'ou Haruka," she replied.

They both stood in silence, watching the two girls chat about whatever it was they usually talked about.

And Isaac watched from a distance.

* * *

Author's Note -- Well, here's the second chapter. It's not as long as the first one, but I want to introduce certain plot points gradually. Thanks for the reviews!

Oh, and does anyone know in which Act in the manga both Haruka and Michiru appear in Mugen Gaken (sp?) girl uniforms? I can't seem to remember it right now. If you can answer, thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Haruka tugged on the bowtie of her tuxedo with one hand and held Michiru's hand with the other.

She glared disdainfully at the passing people, who, Michiru had told her, were either representatives for companies or suitors. She chuckled at the last part, remembering why Michiru had begged her to come even though she hadn't wanted to go to some ridiculous social party.

Apparently, she was Michiru's boyfriend for the night.

As she looked around, she spotted two women coming towards them; one in a black dress and one in a purple dress. The one in the black dress had red eyes and dark green hair, and looked slightly exotic as if she wasn't really Japanese. The other had straight black hair and alabaster-colored skin with piercing grey eyes that looked older than what the woman looked. Michiru noticed them, perking up.

"Haruka, this is Meioh Setsuna and Tomoe Hotaru," she introduced once the women had gotten to the "couple." "It's nice to see you both again," she told them, hugging both of them. Setsuna smiled mysteriously.

"And who is this, Michiru? Someone you picked up during your travels?" she asked.

"This is Ten'ou Haruka, my boyfriend. We met when I had a leg injury and he offered to heal it for me."

Hotaru smiled. "What a gentleman."

At once, another woman with short, shaggy brown hair came up to them, looking at Haruka curiously. "Excuse me, but did I hear that your last name was Ten'ou? I'm a representative for Wind Cars, Inc. My name is Keiko Amara."

Haruka looked surprised. "I'm Ten'ou Haruka, but I don't think I have any affiliation to Wind Cars. It's nice to meet you, Ms. Keiko." She bowed to the woman, Amara doing the same. Amara glanced at Michiru, a surprised look coming over her face.

"Are you Kaiou Michiru?" she asked. Michiru nodded assent. "I'm a really big fan of your music. Can I… ano… have an autograph? Please?" She whipped out a picture of Michiru and a marker. Michiru chuckled.

"Sure. Of course." She took hold of the marker and picture, signing it and handing it back to Amara. Amara smiled, Haruka half-expecting her to squeal loudly like prey before death. Except with excitement, not fear. Haruka licked her lips, craving deer. She missed having deer and squirrel. It was all of this tasteless processed crap… except for ketchup. Ketchup was god's gift to Man.

Idly, she wondered what a buck would taste like with ketchup smeared on it.

Coming out of her thoughts, she noticed that Amara had gone away somewhere; probably to mingle with the idiots from businesses. Looking at Michiru, she asked, "I'm going to go grab a drink. Do you want me to bring you some?"

"Oh, no. Don't worry about me," Michiru answered.

Walking over to the punch table, Haruka noted an empty glass bottle, which she figured had probably been full of punch, next to the bowl. Grabbing a plastic cup, she filled it up and took a sip.

Flinging it away from her almost immediately, she grabbed a napkin, making sure all of the punch was out of her mouth. It tasted poisoned.

* * *

"Damn. She didn't go for the poison?"

Another glass was broken.

"No, of course she didn't. I think spending years in the wild taught her how to detect poison."

"Hmph. You could have told me that, you know. Before I spent 285 American dollars to buy that kind."

"What'll we do now?"

Silence.

"We watch. And wait."

* * *

She could smell its fear-scent already. Crashing through the trees, Haruka closed in on a small buck, tiny velvety antlers peeking out of its head. Catching it, she jumped on it, twisting its neck and ending its life.

Her cell phone rang.

"Yeah?" she asked, flipping it open. She paused for a few seconds, and replied, "Yeah. I'm fine. I just killed a buck. Want me to bring it back?"

A pause.

"Okay, okay. I'll be back in a little."

She pressed the tiny red button to hang up, which, between that and how to open the phone, was all Michiru had taught her to do.

Grabbing the corpse and hauling it onto her back, Haruka began to make her way back to Michiru's house. She had left behind several broken sticks to track her way, and during the chase she was sure she had broken all that came under her feet.

Following the sticks, she got to Michiru's home about an hour later.

Opening the front door with a spare key, she entered the house with the deer corpse still over her shoulder, earning several odd looks from the neighbors. Putting it on a table Michiru had assured her she could use, she tore the skin, removing it in one swift motion. Taking her knife, she began to tear meat off of the bone, picking it clean until there was nothing but bone.

She threw the bones out in the backyard. Who knew; a stray dog could get into the backyard by digging.

Going back inside the house, she took a good look at the meat scattered about the table. Walking to the cupboard, she got out a large bag, placing it next to the table and sweeping most of the meat into it.

Alarmed by the sudden commotion, Michiru stumbled into the kitchen, still looking sleepy. As her eyes took in the scene before her, they widened, and she walked over to Haruka.

"Hey, Michiru. Look what I got today."

Haruka held out a bloody piece of meat. Michiru attempted to smile. "That's nice. We're having venison this time? Instead of squirrel?"

"Yeah. It's really good, too. Even raw."

"Put it in the fridge… okay, Haruka?"

Haruka looked around the kitchen. "Which one's the fridge again?" she asked. Michiru pointed to the large metallic appliance standing very noticeably against the wall. Haruka nodded. "I knew that." Glancing down at herself, she mumbled, "Maybe I should go clean myself up?" Michiru nodded, looking at Haruka's dirt-covered and slightly torn shirt and scratched face.

"Yeah. I'll start cooking some of the meat. You want it rare, right?" Michiru asked. Haruka nodded, walking over to her room, grabbing a fresh set of clothes and making her way to the bathroom.

As soon as Michiru heard water running, she sighed, pulling gloves on and picking up a large hunk of meat.

It had only been a few weeks since someone had poisoned the punch at the party. Haruka had gotten paranoid after that, insisting that most of the food they ate came directly from the animal. She had used her experience of the wild to hunt down deer and squirrels, and so far, no one else had attempted to poison them.

She was startled out of her thoughts by the ringing of the doorbell.

Walking over to the door, she twisted the key, unlocking and opening it. The person that stood in front of the door looked surprisingly familiar, but she had never seen him before.

"If you're selling something, I'm not interested," she said coldly. The stranger's slight grin increased in size.

"I'm not here selling anything, don't worry," he answered. "My name is Isaac. I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."

Michiru smiled warily. "I'm Kaiou Michiru. What kind of questions?"

The water from Haruka's shower had stopped.

"Oh, I just…" he paused, sniffing the air. "Are you cooking venison, Ms. Kaiou? It smells delicious."

Michiru smiled, this time for real. "Thank you," she answered. "Now what were you—"

Haruka came running over to the door. "What'd I miss?" she asked. Looking at Isaac, she blinked. "Have we met before? You look really familiar."

Isaac waved. "Hi. My name is Isaac."

Haruka's eyes narrowed at the fact Isaac's last name had been left out. Deciding that two could play at the game, she answered, "My name is Haruka."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm doing a survey and I need to know your answers to a few questions," Isaac replied.

"Go on," Michiru prompted.

"First, how many live in your house?"

"Two," Haruka answered. Isaac nodded, scribbling something onto a clipboard.

"Okay… now, how old are the both of you?"

"I'm twenty-three," Haruka answered.

"Twenty-two," Michiru added.

"Alright. This is the last one. Which one of you two provides the main income for the family?"

Michiru tentatively raised her hand.

"Okay. So it's the woman and not the man?" Isaac asked.

Sighing mentally with frustration, Haruka nodded.

"Okay. That'll be all. Thank you. Have a nice day!" Isaac said brightly, waving. Haruka slammed the door.

"That was odd," Michiru remarked. "Why did he look so familiar?"

Haruka shrugged. Already, she was beginning to form an idea of who was on her side and who was on… whoever was trying to kill her's side. At least, she thought someone was trying to kill her. "I don't know, but I can't tell a thing. My instincts tell me that he's a little ambiguous in alignment."

Her instincts usually weren't that wrong.


End file.
